Among all objects of design, our clothes are the most universal and intimate. Like other kinds of design, fashion thrives on productive tensions between form and function, automation and craftsmanship, standardization and customization, universality and self-expression, and pragmatism and utopian vision. It exists in the service of others, and it can have profound consequences—social, political, cultural, economic, and environmental.
Fashion as Design focuses on a selection of more than 70 garments and accessories from around the world, ranging from kente cloth to jeans to 3D-printed dresses. Through these garments, we’re going to look closely at what we wear, why we wear it, how it’s made, and what it means. You’ll hear directly from a range of designers, makers, historians, and others working with clothing every day—and, in some cases, reinventing it for the future. Studio visits, interviews, and other resources introduce the history and development of each garment and their changing uses, meanings, and impact over time.
Course Learning Objectives:
Develop critical tools to appreciate and contextualize fashion design—from everyday clothing to couture garments—through many different perspectives.
Trace the history, development, and impact of garments over time, and explore how they may be reinvented.
Investigate garments through multiple lenses including politics, identity, and economics.
Understand more about the lifecycle of clothing, from its design and production to its marketing, distribution, and consumption.
Better comprehend the choices you make about fashion with respect to the visual language of dress, individual and collective identities, and issues such as labor practices, sustainability, and body politics.

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CR

Highly practical and ambitious material challenging us to think about the current landscape of fashion, as well as the future, and how we can improve the the industry with sustainable practices.

FK

May 28, 2020

Filled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled Star

I really enjoy learning about the connection that Fashion as Design has with almost everything around us. The historic facts, the interviews and videos. I'm glad I took this class.

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Heroes

Wearing certain garments can inspire heroic transformations, while heroes can elevate everyday clothing to iconic status. In this module, you will discover the relationship between aspiration, achievement, adulation, and attire through a wide range of heroes—and even imagine yourself as a space hero in the future.

Michelle Millar Fisher

Stephanie Kramer

Anna Burckhardt

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My name is Kerby Jean-Raymond. I am a fashion designer. The hoodie for me was always just a sign of something to keep me warm. When I was in college or in school and on days I didn't want to feel like getting dressed up or I didn't have a clean T-shirt, it served as a jacket and a shirt all at once. But for some people in America and some people across the world, it poses a threat. It's a sign that danger is coming. I've grown up in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. I've been stopped and frisked about 12 times before I turned 17 years old, I've been hit in the head by a police officer, I've been kicked off my bike by police officers, I've been pulled over, I've had my head slammed into my car by police officers, and most of that time, I'm wearing something along the lines of a hooded jacket with a hood or something like that that they deem as a threat. And it's just unfortunate that on top of all the things that we have to fight for in this country as black males and black women, we also have to be cognizant of the things that we wear so that it doesn't pose a threat to somebody else. As far as dreams and goals go, being a fashion designer became second to me wanting to actually get out of my situation. I didn't want to become this political designer, I really just wanted to be like my idols. I wanted to be like Yohji Yamamoto, I wanted to be like Martin Margiela, I wanted to be like Dries Van Noten , and I wanted to be respected on that level, but I knew that the elephant in the room and every room that I walked into was always going to be the color of my skin. So I had to dress the head on the way I wanted to. Around the time of Mike Brown's killing, it was when I had enough, and Eric Garner was the tipping point for me. So around that time, I started reaching out to the family members of those victims of police brutality and decided that I was going to make this 12-minute documentary that I was going to show in place of my runaway. So I brought all these people in for my SS 16 show under the guise that they were going to see a runway and actually show them this really emotionally charged video on how people are reacting to police brutality and how it affected certain people first hand, how certain people felt helpless even in high positions of power. It ended up costing me a few things. The venue told me that I couldn't show there, two stores in London dropped their orders for me. For a company of my size, that's a pretty, pretty hefty thing. That's having to get rid of two employees. That's two people's livelihoods that are out the door. Is fashion modern? I think it's modern in the sense that it's struggling to be diverse, it's struggling currently to keep up with social media, it's struggling currently to be hip and cool, and in some ways, try to be inclusive. But I think we're currently watching history unfold with fashion. I don't think it's there yet. I don't think fashion is modern, I think it's trying to be modern badly.